5,862: Record number of pullups in a day set by Marine vet (4 photos and story)

A Marine veteran has beat the record for the number of pullups completed in a day, earning a spot in the annual Guinness Book of World Records book.

Veteran Sgt. Guy Seaman, who goes by the name Guy Valentino, decided to spend Veterans Day besting a sailor’s pullup record.

He had 24 hours to do more than 5,804 pullups in order to beat the record set Sept. 27 by Navy Air Traffic Controller 1st Class (AW) Mike McCastle. And even though he had nearly a decade on McCastle, Valentino blew through the sailor’s record, completing 5,862 pullups on Nov. 11.

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The event was sponsored by Spike TV’s Veterans Operation Wellness program, and Valentino said he hoped to remind veterans to connect with each other through physical fitness.

“We see the statistics of those who couldn’t hold on to their families after they got back, or the progression of suicide, and I could relate to some of that,” Valentino said. “How do you go from combat to … feeling a sense of loss because you don’t seem to fit into the civilian world?”

After leaving the Marine Corps in 2005, Valentino said he challenged himself to improve his physical fitness alongside veterans in order to “get that sense of belonging again.”

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Now a fitness instructor in Dallas, the former infantryman with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, said if he could pull through 36-hour raids in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005, the pullup challenge was reachable.

“I thought about the Marines, my kids and the reasons why I came back,” he said. “The cause was for veterans, and it’s not inspiring if you don’t accomplish the mission.”

Valentino’s feat was televised by Fox & Friends, ABC News and Spike TV in New York. Retired Army Staff Sgt. Brendan Ferreira, of 101st Airborne, who lost his left arm below the elbow, did pullups alongside Valentino during the challenge.

When Valentino beat McCastle’s record of 5,804 in a day, Guinness World Records verified it and awarded him the title.

And while Marines spend their careers perfecting the pullup, Valentino said even some leathernecks are surprised that he could manage to do nearly 6,000 in a day.

“I’m getting some posts on social media from people saying, ‘congrats, devil dog, congrats veteran,’ and some people are in utter disbelief,” Valentino said.

Valentino said his time in the Marine Corps taught him that nothing is ever “too high to climb out of.”

“Don’t ever fall into a pit where you believe you’re not valuable,” he said. “You’re stamped Marine for a reason, so finish the fight all the way.”

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